I often wonder why some people seem to have at their disposal, all of the time in the world. They must not have homes, children, pets, jobs, lawns or gardens. I was traveling up the North Fork one Thursday in March. Between Petersburg and Seneca Rocks, there were about 40 vehicles parked along the highway at various pull-off spots. The occupants were not fishing, they were waiting. Waiting on the fish truck. I am sure that they arose early in the morning to drive to a location to reserve their space for sitting and waiting. They wasted their morning sitting and waiting on something that never happened.

They did receive one glimmer of hope. While I was at the Seneca Rocks intersection, a hatchery truck passed me and was headed towards Petersburg. I can just imagine the smiling faces on the North Fork as they saw the truck approach and then drive on by their carefully selected waiting area.

I looked on the Department of Natural Resources website, the truck had been to Spruce Knob Lake and was returning to the Petersburg Trout Hatchery. The North Fork didn’t receive its weekly allotment of trout until Friday. I am sure that the same crowd was waiting for their arrival. They probably didn’t have anything else to do.

We often have to make something good out of a bad situation. I also tend to look at the feasibility of a particular endeavor before going ahead with it. I quit "going fishing" when gas hit two dollars the first time. No, I didn’t quit fishing. During the year of 2007, I caught trout every week of the year. I caught small mouths from the third week of April until the week of Thanksgiving. I never fished more than fifty minutes and all of the time spent fishing was between 11 am and 12:30 pm. There were three days that I didn’t catch anything. I just started leaving for work a little early and fished somewhere along the way.

The key to making this type of fishing successful is having your equipment ready and using a lure that appeals to multiple fish species. You do not have time to be fiddling around with equipment. It is very important to make the first cast count. Most of the fish that I caught in 2007 were on Clouser minnows. The only other lures used were Rebel crayfish and Rapala jerkbaits. Keep it simple and you will have success. Do not fret over the time of the day that you have the chance. You will be pleasantly surprised at high noon fish activity, if that is the only time that you have. If you don’t go, you’ll never know what you may be missing out on.

May is primetime to get out and steal some minutes from the day to pursue something that you would rather be doing. As we get older, the "I’m a Gonnas" become nearer and nearer to, "I Wish I Would Have." Don’t let it happen to you. Be creative and find some time for yourself.